Massimo Nicosia wanted to incorporate plenty of Pringle of Scotland’s almost 200-year history into his Spring ’15 collection. He did it in a very contemporary, perhaps even futuristic way, continuing his experiments in 3-D printing, a technique he first employed (to much acclaim) for Fall. This time around, Nicosia created a nylon-powder chain mail. Assembled with panels of woven cotton and silk, it was used for airy, funky tops and a dress. “I wanted to combine the artificial and the natural,” Nicosia said of the 3-D printed looks. However, the high-tech textile wasn’t the designer’s only forward-thinking interpretation of Pringle’s signature knitwear.

Leather embellishments on a diaphanous white dress mimicked a cardigan stitch—the tactile effect was slick, and it made more than a few of the audience to do a double take during its trip down the runway. Similarly, traditional pullovers were completely reimagined; in one instance, loosely woven threads were trapped inside a mesh casing. In another, fil coupe fragments in watery hues of green and violet were patched onto a roomy organdy jumper.

Water was a primary point of reference for Nicosia this season. Using Ophelia by Sir John Everett Millais and Pablo Picasso’s The Bathers as inspiration, he attempted to translate its lightness, transparency, and reflective properties into fabric. This resulted in a number of sheer silk tops with woven collars and sleeves. A few of them were covered in translucent turquoise triangles that protruded from the chest—they were meant to act as prisms. Elsewhere, silver beads were used sparingly on a honeycomb knit dress to provide just a hint of shimmer. That piece stood out for its serene simplicity.

Returning to Pringle’s heritage, Nicosia played with the idea of lingerie (the house manufactured undergarments back in the day), and turned out hyper-thin silk knit tanks and bodysuits. Pleated and leather-trimmed skirts felt a little stiff and lacked the liquidity of Nicosia’s refreshing dresses and tops, but on the whole, the designer produced an innovative—and versatile—Spring lineup that will appeal to loyal Pringle customers and beyond.

Shop the beautiful and elegant artwork of Pringle of Scotland Spring/Summer 2015 below:

CHRISTOPHER BAILEY loves to riff on a topper. In previous seasons he’s reimagined the biker, the aviation jacket, the gritty parka, the trench – of course – and this season, he turned his hand to the indigo denim jacket, that forever young wardrobe staple that’s imbued with good times and optimism.

Serenaded with a live performance by James Bay, Malaika Firth opened the show (fellow Burberry girls, Kate Moss and Cara Delevingne sat front row, alongside Mario Testino) in a fitted wasp-waisted jean jacket with white sheepskin erupting out from under its little peplum.

Varying versions were in never-ending supply. Some were lined in sprouting white ostrich feathers, others were fiercely cropped, another was clad in dusty pink mink, or rendered in grass green suede with a glossy plastic collar and breast pockets. You’ll be spoilt for choice. It wasn’t only those jackets that conveyed a young-at-heart appeal, every luxury house seemingly has a hit sneaker right now and Christopher Bailey debuted Burberry’s all-white style, the “field” sneaker with a bright striped foamy sole.

Under those jackets were tulle dresses as light as candy floss that were whipped around bodies in sensual swathes of bandaged twists or pleats.

The British countryside comes alive in spring and there were nods to that feeling, which arrive with the first signs of summer, rooted in this collection. From those fluffy soft lambswool accents, to that particular shade of grass green, to the oversized butterfly prints and enlarged and abstracted bumble bee motifs and slogans that screamed “insects,” “flower,” and “sun” plastered over trench coats and printed dresses, and yes, all further enhanced by Bay’s The Clocks Go Forward, and the sunlight streaming through the Burberry tent in Hyde Park – as though right on cue.

IT’S two seasons in for Alessandra Dell’Acqua at Rochas – the No 21 designer replaced Marco Zanini at the end of last year and made his debut for the house last February and cooked up a resort collection in between.

At No 21, Dell’ Acqua is known for his ability to join the dots between girl-boy dressing and we saw an offshoot of that this afternoon – his weapon of choice being a utility belt to add an industrial-futuristic feel to typically beautiful and fragile Rochas looks that under Zanini’s tenure had simply just been about the frou. Whether wearing your belt up high around your bust over a bejewelled black evening coat or jacket (or ball gown) will catch on in the real world is a different story, but here it helped to bring a modern plot to the house.

But there was plenty of lace and grace to be found too: the show notes cited sentimental adjectives – “virginal shyness”, “blooming sensuality”, “delicate”, “preciousness” – and they all performed.

Emphasis was on the back with high-neck collars unfolding into bows and sweeping down the back. Waists were dropped for fun and youthful appeal while Victoriana notes came in lace and high front-facing collars on long gowns.

“Naive” and “innocent” perfectly captured the sense of what was going on here, transparency was key. There was night-time allure about dressing gown dresses and coats, the girls ghost-like in their there-then-gone appearances.

A special mention has to go to the shoes which, as is fast becoming the Rochas staple, were tinsel-smothered at the front like a high-end feather duster and teamed with socks cut away at the heel.

THE winning ideas here were to be found in Clare Waight Keller’s series of butter soft suede shorts and shirt combos (in a perfect shade of toffee) and elsewhere in her offering of indigo denim looks, worked into cropped straight-leg jeans, minis, and maxi skirts with cargo pockets. It lent an urban, utilitarian edge to this house and ticked many of the emerging spring trends.

But for better or worse, bohemia is never far from the mood board. Those balloon sleeve blouses, breezy kaftans and romantic cheesecloth dresses suspended from camisole straps and edged in pretty crochet will no doubt appeal to Ibiza types, while full-length goddess gowns anchored with empire line metal work will be just the ticket for a summer wedding.

Today, Clare Waight Keller dedicated her collection to Chloe’s founding designer, Gaby Aghion, who sadly passed away yesterday at her home in Paris age 93.